A knife is a sharpened instrument typically having a handle portion and a blade. In knives which are not of the foldable or retractable type, the blade permanently extends outwardly from the handle and the knife is stored in a case or the like. Another type of knife is a foldable knife in which the position of the blade may be varied. Folding knives are an attractive option as these types of knives typically permit the blade to be conveniently and safely carried on a person's body (e.g., in a pocket of pants or a jacket) or in a member that is carried by the person (e.g., tackle box, backpack, toolbox, etc.) as well as permitting the knife to be safely stored at a location removed from the person (e.g., drawer, etc.). In many folding knife designs, the blade is positionable between an open position where the blade is extended and a closed position where the blade is retracted into the knife's handle.
A locking mechanism which is part of the handle permits the blade to be locked in the open position as well as the closed position so that the blade cannot freely move and extend from the handle. Folding knives with blades which automatically lock are desirable for safety purposes in that the blade is prevented from closing on the person's hand or fingers during use. However, there may be times when it is not desirable to have the blade locked in the open position, for example, when using the blade for performing a simple task, such as cutting a piece of string or tape or opening a container, like a box. In such situations, closure of the blade would not require the separate deactivation of a blade locking member, which may be the case had the blade been locked.
One of the disadvantages of conventional folding knives is that the task of opening and extending the blade can be a difficult task for some users. For example, this task can require significant pulling force to extract the blade from the folding knife housing. For some users, this is a difficult task and also presents the possibility that the user may become injured while exerting great effort in retracting the blade.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a folding knife having means for allowing the user to readily open the blade, even when the user is wearing gloves or in situations where the user's hand is disabled to an extent which limits the mobility of the user's fingers in grasping and extracting a conventional blade from a folding knife.